A free-trade, free-market advocate will still be in the White House.

When we see the initials GOP, we think of the Republican nickname — Grand Old Party. With Larry Kudlow’s appointment as the new director of the National Economic Council, those initials might soon become an acronym for Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.

Since his days working in Ronald Reagan’s budget office, Kudlow has been the happy warrior fighting for policies that would enable all of us to have better lives. He played an indispensable role in devising the 40th president’s economic revival program of promoting tax cuts, battling inflation, cutting regulations and reducing trade barriers. Not for him the pessimism of those who think we’re headed for long-term stagnation and or the defeatist thinking of those who believe we must go through austerity and grim times before we can ever prosper again.

Tax Cuts. Unlike all too many economists, Kudlow knows that taxes impose a financial burden on labor. They create a disincentive to hard work and risk-taking that is so critical to achieving success. Lower that burden through reductions in tax rates and we get more prosperity. Larry co-authored a book — JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity — that chronicles how President John Kennedy’s historic, growth-igniting tax cuts came into being. The result was one of history’s greatest economic booms.

We saw the same economic miracle materialize as a result of Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts — tax cuts that Kudlow was instrumental in formulating and implementing.

Last year, Kudlow had another crucial hand in making tax cuts a reality — this time advocating President Donald Trump's cuts. The historic bill that the president signed in December already is ginning up the kind of positive economic activity we haven’t seen in a generation.

Critics carp that that these tax reductions — and Kudlow will be pushing hard to help make a reality President Trump’s stated desire for more cuts — are bad because they mean more budgetary red ink. Short-term, of course they do: new investments rarely bear fruit overnight! But Kudlow knows — and history shows he’s right — that the only way we get some sanity in Washington’s finances is when the economy is booming.

Cutting unnecessary regulations. The cost to the US economy from rules and regulations comes to some $2 trillion. The president has made more progress in reducing these burdens than any other president in his first year in office. Kudlow will work hard to do more of the same.

Technology. Closely related to the subject of deregulation is making sure government doesn’t hobble the development of exciting new technologies. One example is the deployment of next generation 5G broadband. This is a technology that has the potential to make possible billions upon billions of dollars in new economic activity. Nearly all of the investment will be made by the private sector, but government help is needed to clear red tape and minimize state and local regulatory roadblocks for the sake of national economic progress. Kudlow will be an advocate for just that policy.

Monetary policy. Kudlow is a true rarity these days in understanding the crucial importance of a stable dollar, “King dollar”, as he calls it. No great country has a weak currency. No great, lasting economic boom has ever come from a cheap dollar. He will keep an eagle eye on the Federal Reserve if it engages — as it too often does — in funny money policies. Just as important, he will fight the Fed’s belief in the bogus theory that a booming economy causes inflation.

Trade. Kudlow is no fan of tariffs, which are taxes, plain and simple. He will struggle hard to prevent a trade war with our trading partners. But he is also a fierce foe of trade abuses and here he will work to give the president options on how to best to fight this kind of lawlessness.

Communications. With his immense experience on television and radio and as a persuasive commentator, he will be an ideal advocate. People will listen because he is articulate and straightforward, and he avoids deadening jargon.

Larry Kudlow has the right experience, the right principles and the right instincts for this job. What will make him become highly effective in working with the president, the executive branch staff and with Congress, however, is that he is what he appears to be — an innately kind, compassionate man who tries to work productively with people, who tries to see the best in all of us, who fights for what he thinks is right, and who knows if you don’t win a round, you still stay in the ring.

He has character and is trustworthy. He knows all too well from personal experience how we can falter, which is why he is an inspiring example of how faith can rebuild our lives.

The president chose wisely here.

Steve Forbes, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000, is the chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Media. Follow him on Twitter: @SteveForbesCEO.